Well, that’s exactly what I have here for you today. Except a little different. I hope that’s okay with you. Here’s the scoop:

Did you know the classic cold spinach dip recipe, in the style of many recipes hailing from the mid-to-late 1900s, called for dried vegetable soup mix? Well, maybe you did, but I didn’t! And I don’t know about you, but I don’t exactly keep veggie soup mix hanging around in my pantry.

But I do have onion powder and garlic powder, and I thought maybe those two ingredients too could help make Creamy Cold Spinach Dip nirvana.

And you know what? I think I was right! In fact, I even made a point to buy some veggie soup mix so I could compare the two. I made the batch with onion and garlic powders and then another batch with veggie soup mix. We thought the non-veggie-soup-mix version was actually SO much better!

So here I am today in a retro sort of mood, sharing Creamy Spinach Dip with Water Chestnuts.

How to Make Spinach Dip with Water Chestnuts

This stuff is so easy. Just mix mayo, sour cream (read on for equally delicious vegan and dairy-free options), spinach, water chestnuts, scallions, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper together. Aaand done! Seriously that easy.

For a dairy-free version, I use my cashew sour cream. So good! And to go all the way vegan, go with cashew sour cream and vegan mayo. Done and done.

Serve it up all classic-like in a sourdough bowl and some sliced sourdough baguette on the side.

Now that we’ve got this 1980s-style business settled, I just have to ask: Who exactly did shoot J.R.?

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Creamy Spinach Dip with Water Chestnuts Recipe

Classic creamy spinach dip with a water chestnut crunch, minus the veggie soup mix. Easy, super full of flavor, and with dairy-free and vegan options.

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Author Kare

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups sour cream for dairy-free and vegan version, use cashew sour cream
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise for vegan version use vegan mayo
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt + more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper + more to taste
• 1 10-ounce bag frozen spinach, thawed and liquid squeezed out*
• 1 4-ounce can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
• 1 bunch scallions green onions, chopped [discard top 1/3 of green ends]; save a few for garnish
• 1 medium loaf sourdough boule
• 1/2 sourdough baguette sliced

Instructions

• To a medium bowl, add the sour cream, mayonnaise, onion powder, garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Mix well to combine.
• Squeeze the liquid out of the spinach and add to the bowl along with the water chestnuts and scallions. Mix well to combine. Taste and add additional salt and pepper if desired.
• To allow the flavors to develop, place dip in a lidded container and refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to 24 hours.
• When ready to serve, prepare the sourdough bowl. Use a serrated knife to slice off the top of the sourdough round, leaving enough of the bread to make a “bowl.” Use your hands to pull out the soft center of the bread, leaving the crusty outside. Arrange on a platter along with sourdough baguette slices. Scoop dip into the sourdough “bowl” and use the reserved scallions for garnish. Serve!

Notes

* To thaw spinach, I just let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes and I’m good to go. You can also place it in the fridge or even microwave it to thaw it out.

Dairy-free option

Use this cashew sour cream. I make a double batch and save the leftover cashew sour cream for chili or quesadillas!

Vegan option

Use this cashew sour cream and vegan mayo.

Note about cashew sour cream and food allergies

I have a relative with a cashew allergy so it always makes me a little nervous when I post recipes like this where you would never guess cashews could be lurking in there! They’re such a versatile ingredient, but that means they can really hide in a lot of things. So if there’s any doubt, maybe make a little “contains cashews” sign for your spinach dip. Nut allergies can be scary and serious, yo!

I used this recipe from Culinary Hill and this recipe from Spend with Pennies as my starting points for this spinach dip recipe.

The post Creamy Spinach Dip with Water Chestnuts Recipe appeared first on Kitchen Treaty.

Making the decision to go al fresco with your meal is the easy part. Finding something that’s delicious cold – AND portable, if you’re picnicking it – can be a little tougher.

That’s why I love recipes like these Veggie-Loaded Sesame Almond Butter Noodles – just whip it up ahead of time and enjoy it chilled later on.

For these sesame almond butter noodles, I love putting individual portions right in mason jars for the easiest transport and serving. The pasta, veggies, and almond-butter based sauce makes for a complete yet simple main that everyone on the blanket will dig.

This recipe is a riff on my Veggie-Loaded Peanut Butter Noodles, one of my favorites. It’s essentially the same recipe, but with almond butter swapped in for the peanut butter, and a few sliced almonds added in for crunch.

Not just for picnics, this recipe is also perfect as a make-ahead weeknight dinner, or a great meal-prep situation for easy grab-and-go lunching. I think it might also work well for kids’ lunches, especially if peanut butter is a thumbs-down at school.

No matter why you cook ’em, be sure to take them outside to eat. It’ll taste even better. Truth.

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Note from Kare: Gina from Running to the Kitchen is back (yay!) with this incredible appetizer recipe that’s the perfect hybrid – a cheese ball + Buffalo hot sauce goodness in one easy (and relatively light!) package. Regardless of one’s stance on football (I am not exactly a sports person, though I don’t despise the sport quite as much as Gina does!), I think we can all agree that game-day food like this Buffalo Cheese Ball is something that everyone can cheer for. 🙂

The start of fall is always bittersweet. It’s the beginning of cozy sweaters, boots, and comfort food but the end of flip flops, tanks, tans and amazing summer fruit (peaches, you’ll be missed). It’s also the beginning of football season.

For some reason, Buffalo and football have essentially become synonymous, something that sort of grates at my nerves as I love one dearly and couldn’t even be tempted to sit through the other for large sums of money.

Just the music alone, you know, the “duh duh duh duhhhhh” that prefaces every commercial break is cringe worthy to me, and yet, some of the best snacks, side dishes and appetizers come out of it all – like this Buffalo Cheese Ball.

Buffalo sauce has made its way into pretty much every food out there and now its making its way into the beloved cheese ball appetizer, too. A party isn’t a party without a cheeseball somewhere, am I right?

This one has everything you love about a good one: it’s rolled in nuts, filled with small chunks of veggies, creamy and spreadable but with the added bonus of that football-centric Buffalo flavor. You can add more or less depending on your spice tolerance, but anyway you serve it I can guarantee both the football lovers and those just there for the food, like me, will love it.

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I have to be honest here. I felt a tad deflated when I was asked to review a brand new cookbook called “Vegan Vegetarian Omnivore: Dinner for Everyone At the Table.”

“That’s the cookbook I wanted to write someday!” I thought. But instead, an accomplished, James Beard award-winning cookbook author had written it – someone who has written cookbooks that I really like, to boot. Grr! Think The Vegetarian Epicure and Love Soup. Thankfully, my jealousy turned to excitement pretty quickly, because the truth was, I was pretty excited to crack open Anna Thomas’ latest.

As it turns out, Vegan Vegetarian Omnivore – with loads of vegan base recipes and options for taking them in both vegetarian and meaty directions – is indeed perfect for Kitchen Treaty readers. But I find it to be more of a special occasion cookbook – a bit different than my more everyday point of view. And I love that, because even if you don’t live in a mixed-diet family, almost everyone encounters dietary differences when it comes to holidays and parties.

Vegan Vegetarian Omnivore is the kind of cookbook you’ll enjoy reading cover to cover, then whipping out whenever you want to seriously impress guests – even better when a plethora of dietary preferences and requirements are presenting themselves at the table.

It’s packed with ambitious but doable holiday menus and recipes (with options, of course). The menus and recipes are interspersed with set-the-mood stories that transport you to, say, a golden California evening, lounging on a tree-covered patio and sipping rosé with Anna herself. (And you feel quite welcomed, thank you, regardless of your dietary preferences.)

Each dish is both familiar and different, often with one or two special ingredients you might not use in everyday cooking. For me, I like how it bumps me a bit out of my comfort zone and challenges me to try new things. I need that now and then!

This Spinach & Herb Risotto with Oyster Mushrooms has two ingredients I’d never tried – and I’m now in love with both. Oyster mushrooms – so (for lack of a better word) meaty! And mirin – Japanese sweet rice wine. Holy moly. Glazed oyster mushrooms, cooked with a splash of mirin until golden. Such flavor.

This risotto recipe made me believe that a vegan risotto can be just as good as risotto served up with tons of Parmesan. The parm is truly not necessary, as it turns out, although in the spirit of the cookbook (and Kitchen Treaty too!) it is an option. So is chicken. My guy enjoyed his with warmed cooked chicken and a sprinkle of shaved cheese. And I rewarded myself by sneaking a few extra glorious mushrooms into my own serving.

If you’re looking for more flexibility and interesting choices for serving yourself, your family, and your guests – particularly on special occasions – consider adding both this recipe and the book to your arsenal.

One gripe I do have about the cookbook is the lack of prep and cook times. I need that! But if you read through the recipe thoroughly before starting, you should get a good feel for about how long it should take. (And I did add my own prep/cook times to the recipe I’m sharing below).

Vegan Vegetarian Omnivore: Dinner for Everyone at the Table is available now on Amazon.

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These days, I look for ways to bulk up on the vegetables at every single meal. So it made sense to double up on the veggies for this Veggie-Loaded Peanut Noodle Salad recipe while also reducing the amount of pasta I use. However, that creamy peanutty dressing? I still use just as much as I did for the original recipe. What can I say? It’s necessary.

Bell peppers, carrots, cucumbers, scallions, whole wheat spaghetti, and a generous amount of peanut dressing: that’s what’s happening here.

Oh, and, of course, a nice sprinkle of salted peanuts on top for crunch and deliciousness.

This salad is oh-so great for summer. Make up a batch and have it in the fridge at the ready for:

• A quick hearty lunch
• A lazy dinner outside
• Picnics by the lake
• Taking to summer potlucks (allergy-conscious note: make sure everyone knows it’s peanutty!)
• Sneaking a quick forkful at 1 a.m. (Not that I know anything about that.)

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Why You’ll Love Sticky Coconut Rice

Why is it amazing? Well, first of all, the taste is shockingly, like, almost transcendent. I mean, I know us food bloggers like to say “YOU GUYS BEST THING EVER!!!” about every single thing, but seriously.

It’s a little creamy, a lot sticky, slightly sweet, but definitely savory. It’s coconutty without being overtly so.

It goes equally well with Thai cuisine, Chinese, or Caribbean-inspired fare like this fab Black Bean & Mango Chili. So good! I also think it would be delicious with this Red Lentil Curry, or this Summery Chickpea Curry, or maybe even a rice and beans situation with these Coconut Curry Baked Beans?!

What else is so great about this stuff? It only takes 20 minutes, most of which is hands-off. And the number of ingredients? Five. If we don’t count the water. Four if we don’t count the salt.

Here’s the exact list of ingredients …

Ingredients

We’ve got:

• Rice – I like to use white jasmine rice for this recipe.
• Scallions
• Pure maple syrup or sugar – only a little, for just a touch of sweetness.
• Coconut milk – lite works great, full fat is fine too.
• Salt & pepper

Can you hear the magical tune as the sun turns its angelic rays toward this magical marvel full of goodness and light?!

“Laaaaaaaaa!”

I know, I know. Too far. In that case, please scroll a bit more for the full, printable recipe.

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Savory Coconut Sticky Rice

A savory (and vegan!) side guaranteed to appeal to the masses. 20 minutes! 5 ingredients! Gloriousness!

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Calories 354kcal

Author Kare

Ingredients

• 1 14.5-ounce can lite coconut milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup can substitute granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup scallions white and pale green parts only, chopped, plus 2 tablespoons sliced green parts for garnish
• 2 cups white jasmine rice rinsed

Instructions

• Set a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the coconut milk, water, salt, and maple syrup. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once boiling, add the scallions and slowly pour in the rice. Stir to combine. As soon as it returns to a boil, reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer, uncovering to stir occasionally then re-covering, until most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender, 8-10 minutes.
• Top with remaining scallions and serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 354kcal | Carbohydrates: 78g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Sodium: 299mg | Potassium: 141mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 83IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 1mg

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Table of Contents

• The Story Behind the Recipe
• More About Peanut Butter Noodles

• Jump to the Full, Printable Recipe
• Read Reviews & Comments

The Story Behind the Recipe

My friend Laurie, a devoted mother of two and generally cool chick, shared this recipe with me. She swears it’s kid-friendly, and I trust her judgment because this is a gal who very impressively made most of her baby food from scratch, and aside from that time she tried to sneak me disgusting sweet potato puree disguised as hot chocolate during her Deceptively Delicious phase, she’s never steered me wrong.

It’s also pretty adult-friendly – aka, YUMMY. Doesn’t it look yummy? And don’t you love my awesome vintage Pyrex bowl?!

I love the green flowers. Of course.

More About Peanut Butter Noodles

But back to Peanut Butter Noodles: They’re incredibly easy to make, and I’m psyched because there was plenty left over for a couple easy take-to-work lunches. Oh, and speaking of lunches, Laurie says the big draw for her was that you serve it room temperature, so it’ll be great for her kids’ lunches.

Here’s the recipe:

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Peanut Butter Noodles

Whole wheat spaghetti dances in an easy peanut butter dressing along with delicious veggies and chopped peanuts.

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 4 -6 servings

Author Kare

Ingredients

• 1 pound whole wheat spaghetti noodles linguine, angel hair pasta, or soba noodles also work
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 5 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 5 tablespoons sesame oil
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons peeled and grated fresh ginger root
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 4 scallions peeled and sliced into rounds
• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts
• Optional toppings: grated carrot more scallions, cucumber (peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced)

Instructions

• Boil the pasta according to the package directions. While it’s cooking, blend together everything but the noodles and the nuts in a large bowl.
• Drain and rinse the pasta, then pour the pasta in to the large bowl with the peanut butter mixture, and mix well.
• Top with chopped peanuts and any optional toppings (I don’t think I’d ever make this without the additional scallions and cuke – yum!) Best enjoyed  at room temperature, though you can do it cold, too.

Thanks, Laurie! For this, I think I can finally let go of the Sweet Potato Disaster.

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